Best First Hours

wii fit

The island from Lost is its own character. It's mysterious, malevolent,
and seemingly sentient. It's more than just a setting, interacting with
each of the show's characters as much as any other person stranded
there.

Nintendo wants WuHu Island to be like that. Well, sort of. Not the evil
part, of course. Where the island from Lost is a place full of peril,
pitfalls, and plotholes, WuHu Island is familiar, comfortable, and
friendly. It is supposed to be like a favorite character, an entity
that the player reminisces with every time they meet. That's why it's
already shown up in three different casual Nintendo titles (Wii Fit, Wii
Sports Resort, and Wii Fit Plus).

Make that four, as Nintendo brings Mii back to WuHu island, this time
exclusively for airborne activities in Pilotwings Resort. Pilotwings is no
stranger to acting as the "tech demo" launch title for new visual
splendor; the original SNES game introduced the world to Mode 7 Mapping
while its Nintendo 64 sequel showed off the new system's polygonal
graphics from a birds' eye view.

This will be my second visit to WuHu Island, after the WiiMotion+
showcase that was Wii Sports Resort. There was a certain charm to
staging the various activities around the island, full of recognizable
landmarks and curiosities. However, it could just as easily be argued
that this is all laziness on Nintendo's part, recycling assets they
created years ago across a number of games. Will a half-hour at WuHu
Island rekindle warm memories of jet skis and archery or has this
vacation hotspot gone cold?